The blog dedicated to the painting and collecting of Renaissance themed fantasy miniatures in the 28mm scale, including my own little private venture to commission specially made figures with that theme. The latter are not, at present, intended for a general release, but perhaps something can be arranged if you'd like a couple...

Added to our Dwarf Empire range of white metal miniatures today are the long awaited Land Griffon mounts for our dwarf Knightly Orders.The original Dwarf knights we inherited from the White Knight’s Miniature Imperium are mounted on very small, sweet looking armoured ponies.These Land Griffons are a much more serious mounts. Mixing fearsome bird beaks and claws, with the hind quarters of huge wild cats.ABOUT THE LAND GRIFFONSThere are four variants of these fabulous beasts to mount our Dwarves on. We’ll add them randomly to the 13 codes of minis, making sure that no two similar mounts go together in the packs.

ABOUT THE KNIGHTSThe Knights are taken from our existing Dwarf Empire range.Thirteen different packs of miniatures with two 28mm sized rider models in each pack.Once again there is a huge variety of modeling possibilities, with four basic body types;The three Knightly Orders; Imperial, Leib and Boar Knights, have five different heads and shields each……and are armed with two variants of lances for each of the Orders, or scythes or morningstars for Leib and Boars respectively.There are also three Command groups representing the various Orders.Full SKU and pack detailsDEM075 Imperial Dwarf Knight with lance I, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM076 Imperial Dwarf Knight with lance II, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM077 Imperial Dwarf Knight Command, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM078 Dwarf Boar Knight with lance I, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM079 Dwarf Boar Knight with lance II, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM080 Dwarf Boar Knight with morningstar I, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM081 Dwarf Boar Knight with morningstar II, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM082 Dwarf Boar Knight Command, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM083 Dwarf Lieb Knight with lance I, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM084 Dwarf Lieb Knight with lance II, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM085 Dwarf Lieb Knight with scythe I, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM086 Dwarf Lieb Knight with scythe II, mounted on Land GriffonsDEM087 Dwarf Lieb Knight Command, mounted on Land GriffonsThese packs retail at £20There are also five Unit Builders, ten model sets, at discounted prices.DEM-SB29 Imperial Dwarf Knights mounted on Land Griffons with lances unit builderDEM-SB30 Dwarf Boar Knights mounted on Land Griffons with lances unit builderDEM-SB31 Dwarf Boar Knights mounted on Land Griffons with morningstars unit builderDEM-SB32 Dwarf Lieb Knights mounted on Land Griffons with lances unit builderDEM-SB33 Dwarf Lieb Knights mounted on Land Griffons with scythes unit builder These sets retail £90THE PAYBACKThanks for reading this far down the scroll, here is the payback.We’re quite glad that we don’t have to push all these tricky pack choices through the ‘somewhat clunky’ Kickstarter system as we have done for the last few releases.This also saves us money… and we can pass that saving on to you… so for a 10% discount on these products, use the DISCOUNT CODE given below before the end of the month (31/03/2018)ThankgoodnessthisisntaKickstarter10

1/09/2018

The most fierce and feared of all the witchhunters is their Lord Commander, sometimes referred to as the Witchhunter General. The model is a bit of a collaboration between two sculptors, as the basic horse blank and armoured body are the ones done by FP, that also serve as the basis for the mounted knights and the additional detail is sculpted over that by Mick Darpa who did the footknights and witchhunters.

A close up of just the rider, with his pet raven.

I initially wanted the horse to be a singlepiece casting, but when I checked with the mouldmaker, he was of the opinion that it would be too wide and wouldn't cast properly (which I guess is why these type of barded horses in metal are usually multipart). Not wanting to go the split in the middle route I tried to work out a way to keep the naked horse body one piece and the barding separate. As the thin barding pieces from the mounted knights presented their own challenges in moulding, I wanted more solid pieces, which meant reducing the bulk of the horse body. Fingers crossed that it will all work out as planned in moulding.

1/05/2018

It's been a while since the last update, so first things first, the current state of affairs regarding the human bearknights on foot that were previewed some months ago. They have been mastermoulded and the mastercastings all came out perfect, so this weekend I will spend some time cleaning mouldlines off the masters to prepare them for production moulding. If all goes well, they may be available in greater quantities next month.

Meanwhile, I had Mick Darpa slaving away at the next set of figures which are three Witchhunter/Daemonhunters to complement the earlier Witchhunter/Vampirehunter set. I was so pleased with the first set, that I had to do a couple more and here they are.

The first character is a Daemonhunter holding up a freshly acquired trophy, the head of a large beastman champion that he has slain. The God of Death will look favourably on his servant.

The second is a female witchhunter in sensible armour (read: no breastshaped breastplates, fashionable thin waist or high heeled armoured boots). She's holding up a decree proclaiming the witchhunter's mission and powers, while casually resting a hand on a holstered pistol, implying "or else...". In my head, I call this one "We have a warrant!"

The last one is a specialised daemonhunter, going after those who would spread plague and disease in the realm. He is wearing a mask filled with herbs to keep away disease and carries a torch to burn the afflicted.

There you have it. I hope to be able to mould this soon, so you won't have to wait as long on the next update.

5/18/2017

Mick Darpa has delivered another set of (in my opinon) characerful sculpts with an oldschool bent. This is another set of knights templar (on foot). These belong to the order of the Great Bear. They are wearing heavy fur cloaks, made from the skins of bears they killed themselves and wield impressive great hammers that strike fear in the hearts of their enemies just by looking at them.

The champion of the unit looks unimpressed by the enemy. He'll lift his hammer when they get close enough to smell their breaths... The bearhead adorning his helmet could also be painted differently to represent a particularly ugly direwolf if you prefer.

The musician goes into battle armed with a "small" warhammer, to keep his other hand free in case his needs to blow his horn.

The proud standard of the unit. No frills, just a carved bear's head to show what they are about.

The first 5 rank and file Great Bear templar. I will post more pictures from different angles when I get them. A second set of rank and file figures, with bare heads, will be converted from these after moulding.

4/28/2017

While you've been introduced before to the Graf's lovely daughters, we were yet to encounter their stepmother, the Graf's new wife. Noone really knows where she came from, though she herself says she descends from a royal lineage and claims the title of "Queen of Hearts". Tensions have been running high between the Graf's daughters and their stepmother...

Model sculpted by Shane Hoyle.

Another mysterious character has been roaming the land off late. This ageing knight is clad in shiny white armour, with a helmet shaped after a horse's head and carries some frankly odd equipment. Upon mention of his presence in the Empire, it is said the Graf's new wife reacted with visible shock, suggesting perhaps that this White Knight may have traveled from the same place whence she came. If that is the case, it does not appear as if that news was a welcome one...

Varia

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All figures shown are intended for my private collection and there is no challenge intended to third party IP or copyright. This is a blog about my personal collection and not a commercial venture, although I won't exclude the occasional resale of spares to friends (and people I don't hate) in limited quantities.